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- Title
Public- and private-sector jobs: a cross-country perspective.
- Authors
Fenizia, Alessandra; Checchi, Daniele; Lucifora, Claudio
- Abstract
This article reassesses the conventional wisdom that public-sector jobs have worse pay but better amenities than equivalent private-sector jobs, using data from 22 European countries and the USA. Earnings gaps are shown to be heterogeneous across countries—public sector work carries a premium in Europe but a penalty in the USA. However, whereas European public-sector workers report better job amenities—better job security and work–life balance—than their private-sector counterparts, there are no public–private amenity differentials for US workers. Public-sector work also has fewer pay-for-performance schemes. Finally, the public sector does not seem to ensure a fairer work environment, compared to the private sector, in terms of workplace discrimination and harassment. These stylized facts inform the external validity of extrapolating individual case studies to different contexts.
- Subjects
HARASSMENT; PUBLIC sector; WORK environment; JOB security; PRIVATE sector; PUBLIC goods; WAGE differentials
- Publication
Oxford Economic Papers, 2024, Vol 76, Issue 3, p759
- ISSN
0030-7653
- Publication type
Article
- DOI
10.1093/oep/gpad044